TOEFL iBT independent writing, Children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as they start school? -partly rewritten-

Writing Topic 1

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as they start school. Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

 

☆Let’s think

You might find two points to consider in this statement: 1) foreign language study and 2) early childhood education. Thus, we could ask ourselves the following two questions.

1)    Is it important to learn a foreign language?

2)    If so, is it good for children to start learning it as soon as they start school?

 

 

☆Ideas and Expressions

♦About language learning

1.    In the present world society, where English is the de facto lingua franca, it is becoming necessary to be able to have a command of the language to live a fulfilling life.

 

2.    It is better to be able to know as many languages as possible to have multiple views and to be tolerant to other peoples.

 

3.    The important thing is to establish your own style or acquire a specific skill or knowledge, and language ability is not always relevant to it. Interpreters and translators can help you with your communication if necessary.

 

4.    It is important to focus on completing the mother tongue acquisition to be mature enough in one’s own society.

 

♦About early language education

1.    It is obvious that in language learning the earlier the start, the better command of it. Children have fewer barriers to foreign languages and cultures, so it is easy for them to learn them.

 

2.    If people learn the basics of the language at early years, it will be easier for them to learn higher levels of the language when they go up to upper grades.

 

3.    Most of the brain network is completed by the time one turns 6 years old. Therefore, it is no use trying to make elementary school children bilingual. Moreover, since this means that children learn the language as a foreign language, the class could be nothing but a burden in their school life.

 

4.    Learning more than two languages at a time often leads to insufficient acquisition of all and minds ready to be satisfied with superficial understanding.

 

 

☆Notes:

A Press Release by Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science, and Technology

(An Excerpt)

Developing a strategic plan to cultivate "Japanese With English Abilities"
-Plan to improve English and Japanese abilities-　July 12, 2002

1. Objectives
With the progress of globalization in the economy and in society, it is essential that our children acquire communication skills in English, which has become a common international language, in order for living in the 21st century. This has become an extremely important issue both in terms of the future of our children and the further development of Japan as a nation. At present, though, the English-speaking abilities of a large percentage of the population are inadequate, and this imposes restrictions on exchanges with foreigners and creates occasions when the ideas and opinions of Japanese people are not appropriately evaluated. However, it is not possible to state that Japanese people have sufficient ability to express their opinions based on a firm grasp of their own language.

Critical Period hypothesis

Linguist Eric Lenneberg stated that the crucial period of language acquisition ends around the age of 12 years. He claimed that if no language is learned before then, it could never be learned in a normal and fully functional sense. This was called the "Critical period hypothesis."

 

 

☆Your short response:

I think it is / isn’t important to learn a foreign language because …

 

 

 

I think / don’t think it is good for children to start learning a foreign language as soon as they start school because …

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Topic 2

Some people are always in a hurry to go places and get things done. Other people prefer to take their time and live life at a slower pace. Which do you prefer? Use specific reason and examples to support your answer.

 

 

☆Let’s think

Preferences seem easy to explain while they are often difficult for others to understand, especially for those who do not know you well. This is probably because preference is personal. Without background information, things become difficult to understand. Those who rate your essays do not know you at all, so you have to provide as much background information related to your preference as possible to convince your reader, to get good scores.

 

 

☆Paragraph Development

Paragraph development is a key to providing sufficient background information. If a paragraph has only one sentence or two, it lacks some essential sentences such as supporting details (background information), or the main idea. A sample of a paragraph development is as follows:

【Main Idea】  A sentence which represents the paragraph briefly

【Explanation】  A sentence which explains what you mean by the main idea

【Detail / Example】 A sentence which provides a specific example

【Follow up / Counterargument Treatment】  A sentence which makes up for some information lacking in the example

【Conclusion】 A sentence which wraps up the paragraph briefly

                                            

Sample paragraph development:

1)【Main Idea】 Don’t do today what you can do tomorrow.

【Explanation】 Things change, and doing things a little too early will often turn out to be just a waste of time, while time is life as the author of Momo says.

【Detail / Example】 For example, even if you review the next two chapters of a textbook because you think your teacher may finish two chapters in one class on a whim, she might actually digress and would not even finish one chapter.

【Follow up / Counterargument Treatment】 Although the extra preparation itself is not a waste because you can use it later, you could have used the time for something you could have done only on that day such as communicating with your family and friends. Textbooks won’t change but you and your folks change day by day.

【Conclusion】 Tomorrow will be a totally new day full of the unpredictable while today will never come back. All you need to do is make the most of what you have today.

 

2)【Main Idea】 Make hay while the sun shines.

【Explanation】 I try to avoid letting hesitation or procrastination ruin my life.

【Detail / Example】 If I think of doing something and do not do it, thinking now is not the time for it or I could do it later, I will never do it and regret not doing it in most cases.

【Follow up / Counterargument Treatment】This is because things will not stay the same, and so now is usually the best time to do what you are up to.

【Conclusion】Taking my time often costs me my precious moments of life and I do not want to miss them.

 

Your test paragraph development:

【Main Idea】

 

【Explanation】

 

 

【Detail / Example】

 

 

 

【Follow up / Counterargument Treatment】

 

 

 

【Conclusion】

 

 

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

Life is short. Haste makes waste. What’s your hurry? These three sayings characterize the way I manage my day-to-day chores. I don’t want to rush through things; I prefer to take my time.

 

Life is short. You never know what may happen tomorrow, so it is important to enjoy today. By doing just a few things slowly and doing them well, you can savor the experience. You can truly enjoy what you are doing.

 

Haste makes waste. We are not machines. We can’t just rush through our chores. If we do, we might forget something. We might take shortcuts and do a poor job. Then we’ll have to do the job all over again. That certainly doesn’t save us any time. By going more slowly, we can do a chore carefully, completely, and correctly.

 

What’s your hurry? Where’s the fire? I don’t see any need to rush to the next experience. There’s still al lot to see and learn from the chores around you. Taking care of your baby brother, for instance, can be very rewarding. If you are in a hurry to get many things done, you can just keep the baby near you while you work on other chores. Or, you could devote your whole attention to him and observe his reactions to the environment. You can’t observe carefully if you are rushing to do other things at the same time.

 

To twist a common saying, “Don’t just do something, sit there!” Take life easy and savor each minute. Life is shorter than you think.

(Barron’s, Writing for the TOEFL iBT, pp. 278)